Contents

Required Equipment

Preliminary Information

The Liquid Black Quest centers around the Deeplings world change. However, the missions are not linearly dependent. This means you can do the missions without having done any previous missions, so you can skip most of this spoiler.

The missions available, however, are dependent on the Deeplings world change. The table below lists the Deeplings stage, the missions available, and how to progress during these stages. Note that 200 points are required to progress to the next stage.

Spectulus will then explain his story about the Deepling area and offer you some special equipment to make it possible to go underwater there and give you 150 gp to travel back to the Gray Island.

Shortcut to Fiehonja (Teleport)

From Gray Beach, follow the coast to the east and enter the south-easternmost hole (here). Head down the large staircase until the bottom.

When you reach the bottom of the stairs, follow the cave south to ramp. Follow the one-way path to the main part of Fiehonja. Walk to the north until you find a ramp going up and to the north (here or here). Go up and head further north to a staircase below with a Teleport. Enter the teleport to gain access to the Fiehonja-Gray Beach shortcut.

The teleport on Gray Beach will take you to the Fiehonja protection zone (with the Qjell statue)

Lagatos' Book of Death (for Outfit)

Note: you can do this at any time, it is not required for the progression of the quest (although you will need it to get Deepling addon 1 and 2). It is in this section only because Deepling stage 1, 2 or 3 is not required to complete this mission.

Get all 3 seashell books (blue, green and yellow). This should take around 20 keys, depending on luck. Use all 3 books and go to Spectulus and ask him about the books. Once you hand the three books to him, he will give you the Deepling Outfit.Be warned: if you buy these from players, ensure they have the blood-marks on them. Similar-looking books have been found containing text in the Fiehonja Library, the blood-marks will distinguish the addon items from the reading books. - addon items (you need these) - similar looking books (don't buy these)

Dark Disintegration

First Stage

Guide NPCs: The creatures of the deep are currently hiding in the black waters beneath. If their god-king can be pleased with the treasures of the deep, a pathway may open to further venture into their area. ...

Heart of the Sea

Note: This mission is not required to advance to stage 2 or obtain the outfit or its addons. You may want to do this mission for the chance of obtaining a True Heart of the Sea and some other minor rewards. Otherwise, there is nothing to be gained from doing it. You can repeat this mission each time the Deeplings revert to stage 1. Keep in mind that you need to do this mission 5 times to receive any reward.

In order to please Qjell you must sacrifice Hearts of the Sea to replace the original, which was lost a long time ago. From Gray Beach go through the teleport to Fiehonja to arrive near the Qjell statue. West-southwest from the Qjell statue you will find a ramp leading below. Go down and follow the cave north-west. Along the path you will find a Strong Water Vortex which you will need to use later. For now, go south-west from the vortex through the small crevice. It will have a Warning Sign by the entrance. Follow the cave through the thin passage until you arrive at a ramp leading up. The crystal mine can be found up this ramp.

The crystal mine has 3 floors with a lot of Large Red Crystals. You shouldn't need to go far from the start. You must use a Pick (or equivalent) on the Large Red Crystals. When you do so, one of these will occur:

With considerable effort you manage to knock a largely unscathed rough gem out of the rocks.

In either case you will be unable to mine for 30 seconds. Continue mining until you have obtained a Rough Red Gem. When you have mined a Rough Red Gem you will be unable to mine another until you cut and offer the one you have mined, or after a certain period of time passes (possibly 24 hours).

Repeat this mission 5 times to be eligible for a reward in the Stage 2 library. When the server contributes a combined total of 100 Hearts, a big red glowing gem will appear in the slot. No more gems can be mined until next Stage 1 when this occurs. Note again that delivering 100 offers no additional reward, and is not required to progress to the next stage—it is only there for flavor.

Soul Net (for addon 2)

Enter the Fiehonja teleport and leave the protection zone to the north ramp. Follow the cave north and then east all the way, go up the ramp to the spawning ground.

The only creatures in this area are Deepling Workers and Deepling Brawlers, quite harmless compared to the higher class Deeplings faced on the way in. Your objective is to purify the Deepling spawns by using the soul net on them. You must purify every Deepling spawn before the first one regenerates (about 2 minutes, i.e. all Deepling spawns must be pure). You will need speed items/spells if you are doing it alone below level 150. In the map above, the green dots represent approximate locations of the spawns.

You may repeat this mission as many times as you want, but you must wait 5 minutes after the final purification for the evil Deepling spirits to regenerate. Rarely, purifying the final spawn will yield a Small Golden Anchor, this can be used later (stage 3) for the second addon of the Deepling outfit.

Second Stage

Guide NPCs: God-king Qjell seems to be pleased, the floodgates to the Drowned Library have opened. However, a passage to reach the outer rim of the caves still has to be created. ...

Heart of the Sea (rewards)

Required: having delivered Qjell 10 or more Hearts of the Sea during Deepling stage 1.
From the Qjell statue, head north, down the ramp and continue north up a ramp. If the server is in Deepling stage 2 or 3, there will be no wall blocking your path north. Continue walking north until you come to the library (you'll find Seashell Bookcases against the walls).

Be careful as Deeplings come in large groups from here on. Go up the ramp and head east to another ramp. Go up once, head around the ramps to the west to a teleport.

If you delivered Qjell 10 or more Hearts of the Sea during the latest Deepling stage 1, you will gain access to the teleport. Inside it there is nothing dangerous, and when using the Chest (Quest) and the gold on the floor you can get some random rewards. As a rare reward you can get a True Heart of the Sea. It has been confirmed that a single character can obtain a True Heart of the Sea multiple times.

Coral Mine

Follow the route to the Qjell reward room, but before the teleport, branch off north through a corridor and down a set of ramps leading outside of the library.

Head furthest east where you will find a ramp (look at map 4 in the image above), go up the ramp and you will find deposits of Fossilised Coral. Use a pick on the deposits until you mine a Crate Full of Coral. Since you need 10 to gain access to your rewards you are recommended to mine three crates full of coral (this is the limit at any one time). Once you have enough coral, head back down the ramp and about half way back to the library ramp and you will find another ramp on the south side of the cave (again check map 4). Head up this ramp and you should find an incomplete ramp and a construction tile. Use a crate of coral on the construction tile and use a shovel on the incomplete ramp. Repeat this until you have attempted to repair the ramp at least 10 times.

Note: you cannot use another player's crates to gain boss access. Access is granted by mining the coral, placing them on the platform allows you to mine more, and shoveling only removes the crate from the platform. In other words, you must mine your own 10 crates to gain access.

Note: If you lose crates you will be unable to mine 1 of the 3 crates permitted. For example if one of your crates are stolen, you can only mine 2 maximum at one point until the next day. The lost crates will turn into regular Crates 24(?) hours later.

Note: if there are no coral deposits or if the ramp is complete, then the server is in Deepling stage 3. You cannot gain Deepling boss access during stage 3.

If you have done this enough, you will gain access to the active Deepling boss when the world progresses to Stage 3.

Mining coral, 1248 trials.

Item

Amount

Percentage

Tries to get 1

You manage to mine enough chunks of coral to fill one crate.

121

9.7%

11

It seems you disturbed a Deepling worker.

776

62.18%

2

The coral you mined was crumbly and of minor quality.

351

28.13%

4

Third Stage

Guide NPCs: The inner arcanum of the deep has been breached. Now nothing can stop the assault on Qjell's dark guardians. ...

The third is the final stage and thus there's no way to further progress. The third stage brings about some changes to Fiehonja:

The third area of Fiehonja is unlocked (the area the coral was delivered will now be a constructed ramp), including access to Manta Rays and at least one of the three Deepling guardians (Tanjis, Obujos, Jaul).

The boss is selected randomly (most commonly Tanjis, Obujos and then Jaul) and remains for that day only. At server save the boss will be re-rolled and repeated bosses are possible.

You gain a once-only access to the current Deepling guardian if and only if you delivered the appropriate amount of crates (see second stage above). Upon entering the teleport to a Deepling guardian, you may stay there for up to 20 minutes, during which time the Deepling guardian may spawn (spawn time is 5-10 minutes). After killing the Deepling guardian at least once, you may open the chest by his lair to receive an additional reward.

This the hardest addon, but the idea is very simple. When you kill each boss (Obujos, Tanjis and Jaul), the permission to open the respective chests will be granted to you. There's a chance to get some items from them. When you get Obujos' Shell, Tanjis' Sight and Jaul's Pearl, you have to go to NPC Rock Steady. You have to say "Hi", "Collect", "Yes" three times, that way you will give the items to him to complete his collection. When you have handed all of those he will thank you with the first addon. Also you will get the achievement Spolium Profundis.

Deepling Guardians Hint

Your access to a specific deepling guardian room is revoked as soon as you gain credit for killing one of them. However, your access to other deepling guardians is not revoked until you open any of the 3 chests. This means that you can kill each deepling boss on a single week if they all show. However, as of 10.38, opening chests will also revoke your access to the other bosses' chest rewards. Thus, even if you kill all 3 deepling guardians, you may only open 1 of the chests.

If you fail to open a chest, there is no gain in repeating the Coral Mine mission, your access to bosses cannot be renewed until you receive rewards for killing them.

Transcripts

Underground machine

Player: hi
Spectulus: Hello Player! You're late, do you have no concept of time? My mission is of utmost importance. If you are not interested in helping me, you might as well just leave.Player: strange machine
Spectulus: Ah, the machine you found at that island. Well, I built this thing to venture far beneath the very soil we walk on. I suspected something there. Something deep down below. Something evil. Even more so than the dreaded bugs which are crawling my study. ...
Spectulus: Drilling hole after hole only to get stuck in another hard, unbreakable sediment again and again, I was about to quit this pointless enterprise. ...
Spectulus: However, the very last day I lingered on that island, I finally fell into a large hollow right under the beach. My drill was shattered and the machine was not mobile anymore. ...
Spectulus: I am well aware that this may sound laughable now - at this part all of my colleagues burst into laughter anyway - but suddenly there were stairs. Incredibly large stairs that led to the underworld. A world deep under the sea - can you believe this?Player: yes
Spectulus: You do? Well, the end of this story was that I had to leave the place. ...
Spectulus: I couldn't explore what lies below the stairs as there was an unpredictable stream. Diving into these waters would have been an uncontrollable risk, even with the means to survive without any air. ...
Spectulus: So I used the portable teleporting device I installed into my machine in case of an emergency and went home. I could only take the most important research documents with me and had to leave most of my equipment in the cave. ...
Spectulus: Of course I also left my final notes with the coordinates there. And for the life of me I cannot remember where I dug that stupid hole. ...
Spectulus: When I arrived at home I immediately started looking for a way to manoeuvre in these chaotic conditions once I rediscovered the lost entrance. I never remembered it, but it seems you found it as you indeed have my original notes. ...
Spectulus: Oh and just in case you want to complete what I have started - feel free to do so. Up to it?Player: yes
Spectulus: Well, if you really want to delve into this - I could use some help. So you have found my machine on that island? And you found the notes with the coordinates? Then you can find the entrance! ...
Spectulus: Just look for a large staircase with sprawling steps. There is an unpassable stream there that will prevent you from venturing further on. But fear not, you can indeed travel down there - with these small enhancements I created. ...
Spectulus: At first, take this gold for the passage by ship and return to the Gray Island from where I started my expedition many years ago. From there you should find a way to reach the Gray Beach of Quirefang as no ordinary ship can land there. ...
Spectulus: I will put this under your footgear. Here you go. And this in your nose. There. And there will be no further problems for you down there. Except- ah, well you'll find out yourself soon enough, won't you?Player: yes
Spectulus: Then off you go! I'm sorry that I cannot offer you any further help but I'm sure you will find support along your way. And - be careful. The sea can appear pitch black down there.Player: bye
Spectulus: Yes yes. Goodbye Player.

Lagatos' Book of Death (for Outfit)

Player: hi
Spectulus: Ah hello again Player! I still have one or two other missions for you. There are also some tasks someone needs to attend to.Player: book
Spectulus: You found what? Well, you'll have to hand it over to me to help you with this, will you? Player: yes
Spectulus: The first volume of the Book of Death. That must have been written in Lagatos's final days. A very dark tone underlies these writings. ...
Spectulus: Mh. Hm. He talks about a change, a transformation. Something has happened to the creatures of the deep that turned them towards war. ...
Spectulus: We need all three books if we want to unravel this mystery.Player: book
Spectulus: You found another volume of the Book of Death? Well, I need to see this one. Will you give it to me?Player: yes
Spectulus: The second volume of the Book of Death. It seems the Deeplings were indeed changed by an outside force of some kind. They turned against each other, started to suppress certain castes. ...
Spectulus: There is only one other book needed to unravel this mystery.Player: book
Spectulus: You found another volume of the Book of Death? Well, I need to see this one. Will you give it to me?Player: yes
Spectulus: The third volume of the Book of Death. Mmh, mh. So the 'blackness' found them. They rule the 'black void' - I assume the deeper parts of the sea - and they will 'conquer the surface'. ...
Spectulus: 'And they will walk the path of pain', also, 'they will be followed by a trail of blood' and finally, 'their work is cruel, their reward death'. It gets quite dark from there on, though. ...
Spectulus: Now that I have read all three books it is clear that an outside force, something unknown, was manipulating the Deeplings. ...
Spectulus: They were never the peaceful type but they would never deny the heir of their culture to take part in a full-scale war. ...
Spectulus: The oppression of the lesser Deeplings, destruction of knowledge, abandoning their libraries and cult sites - someone WANTED them to do all this. ...
Spectulus: Why? I don't know. What to do? I don't know either. I can, however, still help you as good as I can from here. ...
Spectulus: During my failed expedition, I also found some kind of armor. It was broken but I managed to complete it using some rare materials from my stock. ...
Spectulus: This thing is quite heavy but should work just perfectly underwater. I hope this will help you on your quest to find out what really is going on in these depths.Player: bye
Spectulus: Yes yes. Goodbye Player.

First Addon

Player: hi
Rock Steady: Need {help}? Or are you only here for some {news}. Either way, make it short.Player: help
Rock Steady: If you want anything, you should talk to Old Rock Boy over there. I do collect stuff, though. So just ask if you're interested in helping me.Player: collect
Rock Steady: I collect everything that reflects light in strange ways. However, I am bored by my collection. And there wasn't anything new to add for years. ...
Rock Steady: I like pearls for example - but I have already enough. I also like shells - but I can't even count how many I already own. ...
Rock Steady: If you find anything of REAL VALUE - bring it to me. I will reward you well. You don't already have something for me by chance?Player: yes
Rock Steady: Great! Let me see. Amazing! I will take this, thank you!Player: collect
Rock Steady: Have you got anything for me today?Player: yes
Rock Steady: Great! Let me see. Amazing! I will take this, thank you!Player: collect
Rock Steady: Have you got anything for me today?Player: yes
Rock Steady: Great! Let me see. Amazing! I will take this, thank you!Player: collect
Rock Steady: Have you got anything... what? You want what? A reward? HAHAHAHAAAA!! ..
Rock Steady: No I'm just teasing you. I'm really happy about my collection now. ...
Rock Steady: Well, I found some kind of weapon a long time ago. I believe it may be especially helpful underwater as it is from the deep folk. In any case it is of more use for you than it would be for me.

Anchor (for addon 2)

Player: hi
Navigator: 8O'''' |(( JT(|W-T -( J-T =|- (CW- BO:Player: flou
Navigator: Lhnjei gouthn naumpi! So. Another visitor. No, don't say anything, yet - I know why you are here. I can explain everything.Player: explain
Navigator: By entering this place, you have earned the right to learn what this is all about. This is a long story. Are you sure you want to hear this?Player: yes
Navigator: I was once captain of a ship, the Skyflare. We were traders for King Tibianus and on our way home when we got into a storm. We fought hard to escape the cold grip of the sea. ...
Navigator: I myself did what I could to navigate the Skyflare out of this mess. They depended on me. Me, the navigator. And I succeeded. ...
Navigator: However, when the sea calmed down and the rain was finally gone, we recognised that our ship wouldn't move. It wasn't my fault. ...
Navigator: There was a strong gale and we could already see this island on the horizon. There were seagulls all around the Skyflare to lead us to dry land. But the ship did not move a single inch. It was NOT my fault. ...
Navigator: We dived under the bow and saw that it was stuck right on the tip of a sharp rock. The world below us was treacherous, we could see large underwater mountains and a labyrinthine system of caves and holes. ...
Navigator: Some of my men panicked and hijacked the dinghies to reach the island, others tried to swim. I remained on the ship. It was not my FAULT. It was not. ...
Navigator: Do you have enough, can I stop?Player: no
Navigator: When none of my men returned, I forced myself to make a decision. Either dying on this dead ship or plunging into the liquid black beneath. ...
Navigator: In my desperation my thoughts fell onto a strange armor - a gift from a trader we dealt with just before the storm. Strange ornaments and fish-like elements decorated this armor. We thought it would fit just perfectly into the captain's cabin. ...
Navigator: He said something like a 'blessed breath' and 'to subdue the drift'. We thought he wanted to sell us worthless decoration and make it look interesting. If I had only listened to what he said. ...
Navigator: I figured that this thing would have something to do with diving or at least protect me from the icy water. I put it on, grabbed a shimmer glower from our storage to light my path and jumped in. ...
Navigator: Do you want me to go on?Player: yes
Navigator: Hmpf. The armor was working. After some time I was surrounded by darkness and could only see as far as my shimmer glower would me allow to. But I didn't feel the cold - I could even breathe through that helmet. ...
Navigator: I dived into the deep black. Across rugged mountains, vast fields of kelp, swarms of strange fish. ...
Navigator: And then I laid my eyes on a creature I have never seen before. I now know that they call themselves Njey. You would call them the 'Creatures of the Deep' or 'Deeplings'. ...
Navigator: I am now convinced that when they first saw me descending in that suit with the light of the shimmer glower encompassing me, they took me for their God King Qjell. And that's when it all started to make sense. Don't you agree?Player: yes
Navigator: Of course you do. And they did, too. They obeyed me. They adored me. They followed me. ...
Navigator: I learnt everything about their culture, their life, their goals and their problems. I found out about vile insect-like creatures inhabiting the surface of the island. And their waiting for the return of Qjell. ...
Navigator: I practically rewrote their history. I WAS THE SECOND COMING. I WAS QJELL. I, THE NAVIGATOR. ...
Navigator: And I navigated them out of their miserable lives. Away from their petty interests. I led them to a greater purpose - to form chaos out of order, to bring back the storm to the seas and to make THINGS MOVE. Do you want to hear the rest as well?Player: yes
Navigator: I control EVERYTHING from this room, navigating the fate of this land for more than a century now. Can you see all these funnels? My voice travels through them and throughout everything down here! ...
Navigator: The stones on the beach? The trader up there? That was ME ALL THE TIME! I lured YOU into creating all this chaos up there and down here! ...
Navigator: You thought you could choose sides? Think again! I nearly led you into the destruction of two species! ME, THE NAVIGATOR! I CONTROL YOU, I OWN YOU! QJELL AFAR GOU JEY!Player: helmet
Navigator: NAAAAARGH. If you promise to leave me alone and NOT TO TELL MY SECRET to anyone - you can have one. ...
Navigator: NO! Not the one I'm wearing. I am BOUND to this device. This suit has granted me a longer life. However, once you have spent a certain time with this - there is no turning back if you know what I mean. ...
Navigator: The armor will merge with your very body. Holding you captive, holding your life in its hands like a ransom. ...
Navigator: Using Deepling craft and various components from down here, I created several spare helmets - just in case this one gets damaged. If you return that small golden anchor to me, you can have one. Will you?Player: yes
Navigator: Then take this one. And remember: DO NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT ME OR ANYTHING YOU HAVE HEARD HERE TODAY.